A Device Interface Board (DIB) (sometimes referred to as a “load board”) is used to test radio frequency integrated circuits (RFIC). A DIB can include hundreds of mixed-signal and RF circuits with hundreds of active and passive components. Many of the RF circuits may be embedded in the layers of the DIB.
Before a DIB can be used to verify an RFIC, the electric circuits in the DIB itself must first be verified. Typically, in order to test a DIB, tester specific code is manually developed for testing the various electric circuits of the DIB. This process can take days, or months, for complex DIBs.
Similarly, the drive for smaller and smaller electronic devices has led to increased density of surface-mounted electric components on a printed circuit board (PCB), as well as the use of electric components embedded in a PCB. Testing, verifying, or diagnosing the electric circuits on, or embedded in, a PCB is typically either done manually, or via automated test equipment (ATE). Manual verification of electric circuits can be time-consuming and costly. The use of ATE eliminates much of the manual effort, but in turn, the ATE must be designed or programmed for a particular PCB, which is also time-consuming and costly.
Accordingly, there is a need for an efficient technique for testing electric circuits that can be applied to a variety of different electric circuits without the need to design or program ATE for each electric circuit.